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XCR1250

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XCR1250

XCR1250

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LA Times

Snowballs at the Hollywood sign: Does it signal the biggest SoCal snow event in decades?

 
 
Hayley Smith
Fri, February 24, 2023 at 7:00 AM CST
 
 
Stalled traffic during snow storm along Interstate 5 near Newhall, Calif., 1974. (John Malmin / Los Angeles Times)
 
A snowstorm in 1974 stalled traffic on Interstate 5 near Newhall. (John Malmin / Los Angeles Times)

Blizzard warnings. Whiteout watches. Avalanche threats. The alerts are startlingly unusual for Southern California, a region typically defined by its sunshine, palm trees and temperate weather.

But Los Angeles and other nearby counties are bracing for a snowstorm unlike any seen in decades — or possibly ever.

"This could be really substantial," UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said. "In fact, it could be a historically significant snowfall for parts of the Southern California mountains. This well may be the largest single-event snowfall in some parts of Southern California since the 1980s. This is a big deal."

The storm, which has already made a mess of conditions in some parts of Northern California, is expected to gain strength as it arrives in Southern California early Friday.

The "highly dynamic" system will likely bring heavy rain, strong winds, thunderstorms and potential localized flooding to areas in and around Los Angeles, Swain said. In the L.A. and Ventura county mountains, snow levels could be as low as 1,500 feet — roughly the elevation of the Hollywood sign, where residents reported that a wintry mix had already landed Thursday afternoon.

"It's a very rare event," said Jeff Zarrinnam, chairman of the Hollywood Sign Trust, who made a snowball beneath the world-renowned landmark.

Though the storm is unusual, it's not the first time Southern California has seen snow.

Similar wintry conditions occurred in 1989 — the first and only other time the weather service issued a blizzard warning in the L.A. area — back when Tom Bradley was L.A. mayor and gasoline sold for about $1 a gallon. That storm dropped up to 5 inches in parts of the San Fernando and Simi valleys, and snow was reported "from the hillsides of Malibu to the streets at Palm Springs," The Times reported at the time.

Snow also made appearances in 2019, 2007, 1998, 1987 and 1974, according to Times archives. In 1962, heavy snow fell in the mountains and high deserts and dusted parts of downtown and West Los Angeles before melting quickly.

Perhaps the most famous snowstorm was in January 1949, when several inches piled up in the region over several days. Times articles from that time described 14 inches of snow on Ventura Boulevard near Woodland Hills, a foot in Laurel Canyon and light flurries around the L.A. Civic Center.

"The Times' switchboard received numerous calls from residents in all parts of the city reporting what they described as winter scenes 'just like back east,'" one story from 1949 read.

A black-and-white view of stalled traffic on a highway
 
Vehicles on the I-5 during the 1974 snowstorm near Newhall. (John Malmin / Los Angeles Times)

What makes the current system so noteworthy, however, are the potential snowfall totals in the mountains around Los Angeles, which could exceed 3 or 4 feet over a 48-hour period, or even reach as much as 8 feet on high mountain peaks. The forecast is so significant that the Mt. Baldy Resort, which most winters doesn't get enough snow to operate all of its runs, has closed its slopes.

"A big storm system is in route to the area," resort officials wrote in a post on Instagram. "Not only is it big, some are calling it a potential national record setter."

Forecasters say nearly 100 inches of fresh powder could fall on Mt. Baldy and other high-elevation areas. Even places that don't normally see snow should get some powder, including up to 12 inches at elevations between 2,500 and 4,000 feet, and up to 4 inches at elevations between 1,500 and 2,500 feet.

The National Weather Service has issued blizzard warnings from 4 a.m. Friday to 4 p.m. Saturday in the Ventura, Los Angeles and San Bernardino county mountains, where heavy snow, strong wind gusts and "near zero visibility" are likely. A flood watch is also in effect in portions of Santa Barbara and Los Angeles until Saturday, with peak rain rates of 0.75 of an inch per hour possible.

"What is really kind of astonishing are the snow totals that are projected for the Southern California mountains and the southern Sierra Nevada," Swain said.

Climatologist William Patzert said several factors must come together for such a rare occurrence in Los Angeles.

Though many winter storms travel down the spine of the Sierra and lose their moisture by the time they reach Southern California, the incoming low-pressure system is moving down off the coast of Canada, where it is loading up with Pacific moisture, he said.

The cold temperatures and strong, moist winds coming off the Pacific “are the ingredients for blizzards for California,” Patzert said.

He said this winter's unusual pattern of "extreme volatility" could be linked to swings in the jet stream that started around December. The jet stream is the air current in the upper level of the atmosphere that guides weather systems across the globe.

The National Weather Service is advising residents to avoid travel during the storm and to be prepared for potential power outages, downed trees and other hazards, including an increased threat of avalanches.

Though some Angelenos may be tempted to travel to mountain areas to seek out the snow, Swain warned that it's probably best to stay home.

"This is not a weekend you're going to be able to go up and ski — no one is going to be able to get in or out, potentially for days," he said. "If you live up there, be prepared for a phenomenal amount of snow. And if you don’t live up there, realize you’re not going to be getting up there."

Patzert noted that while the storms could pose immediate hazards, they will probably be beneficial for drought recovery, after several years of prolonged dryness.

"In the short term it's dangerous, but in the long term, we really needed this," Patzert said.

"February," he added, "came in like a lamb, but it's going out like a lion."

Times staff writer Terry Castleman and researchers Scott Wilson and Cary Schneider contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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BOHICA

BOHICA

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A woman wearing a winter coat walks past a cherry blossom tree blooming during warm weather in Washington DC.Show captionEnvironment

Parts of US see earliest spring conditions on record: ‘Climate change playing out in real time’

Parts of Texas, Arkansas, Ohio and Maryland, along with New York, are all recording their earliest spring conditions on record

Blooming daffodils in New York City. Leaves sprouting from red maples in North Carolina. Cherry blossoms about to bud in Washington. Record winter warmth across much of the eastern US has caused spring-like conditions to arrive earlier than ever previously recorded in several places, provoking delight over the mild weather and despair over the unfolding climate crisis.

In New York, one of several US cities to experience its warmest January on record, spring conditions have arrived 32 days before the long-term normal, which is its earliest onset of biological spring in 40 years of charting seasonal trends by the National Phenology Network.

Spring activity has, meanwhile, arrived at least 20 days earlier than usual for huge swathes of the US south-east and east, with parts of central Texas, south-east Arkansas, southern Ohio and Maryland, along with New York, all recording their earliest spring conditions on record so far this year.

 

“It’s a little unsettling, it’s certainly something that is out of the bounds of when we’d normally expect spring,” said Teresa Crimmins, director of the National Phenology Network and an environmental scientist at the University of Arizona. “It perhaps isn’t surprising, given the trajectory our planet is on, but it is surprising when you live through it.”

Today’s climate activist ‘criminals’ are tomorrow’s heroes: silencing them in court is immoral | George Monbiot

Winter has barely registered for millions of people in the US north-east, with states across the New England region all experiencing their warmest January in the 155-year national record. New York City, which experienced more lightning strikes than snowfall in a balmy month, notched an average temperature 10F higher than the long-term average. The Great Lakes, meanwhile, have had a record-low amount of ice coverage during their usual February peak.

The procession of warm days has coaxed flowers from plants, with thousands of citizen observers reporting early budding in numerous locations to the National Phenology Network, a coalition of academics, government agencies and volunteers. Volunteers on the ground have noted instances of blooming over the past 15 years, while the longer 40-year record comes from a model of spring-like conditions devised by the network.

This year, blooms have already been emerging from common lilacs in Pennsylvania, eastern redbuds in Virginia, tulip trees and red maples in North Carolina, and daffodils and violets in New York City, observers have told the network. Perhaps the most famous symbol of spring in the US, the cherry blossoms found in the heart of Washington DC, have started to bud, too, and could break a three-decade record for early blossoming, according to the National Park Service.

The Washington monument is seen through cherry blossoms on the National Mall in Washington DC on 21 February. Photograph: Sarah Silbiger/Reuters

The warm winter, and the galloping arrival of spring-like weather, is part of a longer-term trend of milder winters and scrambled seasons due to the heating of the planet caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Crimmins said her network of observers have voiced “surprise, concern and anxiety” over another early spring, which follows a string of similar early onsets over the past decade or so.

“This year the US has clearly been chopped in half and the eastern half is so much further ahead of schedule in terms of spring,” she said. “Almost everyone I speak to about this has this existential anxiety that we are seeing climate change playing out in real time.”

Stronger El Niño events may speed up irreversible melting of Antarctic ice, research finds

While many people may celebrate a winter without the need for heavy coats or wariness over slippery ice and snow, the rapid arrival of spring conditions has a host of negative ramifications, scientists say. Pollen pumped out by prematurely unfurling plants can trigger earlier seasonal allergies and parasites such as ticks, some able to spread afflictions such as Lyme disease, are able to spread and establish themselves at a time when temperatures should be too cold for them to thrive.

More fundamentally, the shifting seasons risk severing a whole series of relationships essential to the natural order. Insects may miss feeding upon early-blooming plants, while migrating birds, which decide to start their seasonal journeys by the length of the day, may find a dearth of food for them when they arrive. The plants, meanwhile, risk being killed off by frosts that can arrive after they’ve blossomed.

 Everything has been thrown out of whack, species that have evolved together for millennia are now off-kilter

This situation poses a threat to the food system, which is reliant upon insect pollination, and gives an edge to certain invasive species of plant that thrive in the warmer conditions, according to Dr Deborah Landau, director of ecological management at the Nature Conservancy.

“I’m seeing the trends I rely upon, the calendar I have trusted to see rare plants in bloom, just completely disappear,” said Landau, who has been charting plant and animal behavior for the past 22 years. “Everything has been thrown out of whack, species that have evolved together for millennia are now off-kilter. There is this cascading effect on everything that is more than just a missed cherry blossom season.”

Landau said that people will start to see the true costs of early springs through higher prices for certain pollinator-dependent foods and the spread of tick-borne diseases, even if the consequences of this are still not apparent to most.

“I’m seeing things green up and bud early and the weather reports just say ‘lucky you, what another lovely warm day,’” she said. “I just groan because I know the pollinators won’t have anything to eat. It’s frustrating.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Sleepr2

Sleepr2

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9 minutes ago, BOHICA said:
A woman wearing a winter coat walks past a cherry blossom tree blooming during warm weather in Washington DC.Show captionEnvironment

Parts of US see earliest spring conditions on record: ‘Climate change playing out in real time’

Parts of Texas, Arkansas, Ohio and Maryland, along with New York, are all recording their earliest spring conditions on record

Blooming daffodils in New York City. Leaves sprouting from red maples in North Carolina. Cherry blossoms about to bud in Washington. Record winter warmth across much of the eastern US has caused spring-like conditions to arrive earlier than ever previously recorded in several places, provoking delight over the mild weather and despair over the unfolding climate crisis.

In New York, one of several US cities to experience its warmest January on record, spring conditions have arrived 32 days before the long-term normal, which is its earliest onset of biological spring in 40 years of charting seasonal trends by the National Phenology Network.

Spring activity has, meanwhile, arrived at least 20 days earlier than usual for huge swathes of the US south-east and east, with parts of central Texas, south-east Arkansas, southern Ohio and Maryland, along with New York, all recording their earliest spring conditions on record so far this year.

 

“It’s a little unsettling, it’s certainly something that is out of the bounds of when we’d normally expect spring,” said Teresa Crimmins, director of the National Phenology Network and an environmental scientist at the University of Arizona. “It perhaps isn’t surprising, given the trajectory our planet is on, but it is surprising when you live through it.”

Today’s climate activist ‘criminals’ are tomorrow’s heroes: silencing them in court is immoral | George Monbiot

Winter has barely registered for millions of people in the US north-east, with states across the New England region all experiencing their warmest January in the 155-year national record. New York City, which experienced more lightning strikes than snowfall in a balmy month, notched an average temperature 10F higher than the long-term average. The Great Lakes, meanwhile, have had a record-low amount of ice coverage during their usual February peak.

The procession of warm days has coaxed flowers from plants, with thousands of citizen observers reporting early budding in numerous locations to the National Phenology Network, a coalition of academics, government agencies and volunteers. Volunteers on the ground have noted instances of blooming over the past 15 years, while the longer 40-year record comes from a model of spring-like conditions devised by the network.

This year, blooms have already been emerging from common lilacs in Pennsylvania, eastern redbuds in Virginia, tulip trees and red maples in North Carolina, and daffodils and violets in New York City, observers have told the network. Perhaps the most famous symbol of spring in the US, the cherry blossoms found in the heart of Washington DC, have started to bud, too, and could break a three-decade record for early blossoming, according to the National Park Service.

The Washington monument is seen through cherry blossoms on the National Mall in Washington DC on 21 February. Photograph: Sarah Silbiger/Reuters

The warm winter, and the galloping arrival of spring-like weather, is part of a longer-term trend of milder winters and scrambled seasons due to the heating of the planet caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Crimmins said her network of observers have voiced “surprise, concern and anxiety” over another early spring, which follows a string of similar early onsets over the past decade or so.

“This year the US has clearly been chopped in half and the eastern half is so much further ahead of schedule in terms of spring,” she said. “Almost everyone I speak to about this has this existential anxiety that we are seeing climate change playing out in real time.”

Stronger El Niño events may speed up irreversible melting of Antarctic ice, research finds

While many people may celebrate a winter without the need for heavy coats or wariness over slippery ice and snow, the rapid arrival of spring conditions has a host of negative ramifications, scientists say. Pollen pumped out by prematurely unfurling plants can trigger earlier seasonal allergies and parasites such as ticks, some able to spread afflictions such as Lyme disease, are able to spread and establish themselves at a time when temperatures should be too cold for them to thrive.

More fundamentally, the shifting seasons risk severing a whole series of relationships essential to the natural order. Insects may miss feeding upon early-blooming plants, while migrating birds, which decide to start their seasonal journeys by the length of the day, may find a dearth of food for them when they arrive. The plants, meanwhile, risk being killed off by frosts that can arrive after they’ve blossomed.

 Everything has been thrown out of whack, species that have evolved together for millennia are now off-kilter

This situation poses a threat to the food system, which is reliant upon insect pollination, and gives an edge to certain invasive species of plant that thrive in the warmer conditions, according to Dr Deborah Landau, director of ecological management at the Nature Conservancy.

“I’m seeing the trends I rely upon, the calendar I have trusted to see rare plants in bloom, just completely disappear,” said Landau, who has been charting plant and animal behavior for the past 22 years. “Everything has been thrown out of whack, species that have evolved together for millennia are now off-kilter. There is this cascading effect on everything that is more than just a missed cherry blossom season.”

Landau said that people will start to see the true costs of early springs through higher prices for certain pollinator-dependent foods and the spread of tick-borne diseases, even if the consequences of this are still not apparent to most.

“I’m seeing things green up and bud early and the weather reports just say ‘lucky you, what another lovely warm day,’” she said. “I just groan because I know the pollinators won’t have anything to eat. It’s frustrating.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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© 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

More taxes will fix this

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ViperGTS/Z1

ViperGTS/Z1

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26 minutes ago, BOHICA said:
A woman wearing a winter coat walks past a cherry blossom tree blooming during warm weather in Washington DC.Show captionEnvironment

Parts of US see earliest spring conditions on record: ‘Climate change playing out in real time’

Parts of Texas, Arkansas, Ohio and Maryland, along with New York, are all recording their earliest spring conditions on record

Blooming daffodils in New York City. Leaves sprouting from red maples in North Carolina. Cherry blossoms about to bud in Washington. Record winter warmth across much of the eastern US has caused spring-like conditions to arrive earlier than ever previously recorded in several places, provoking delight over the mild weather and despair over the unfolding climate crisis.

In New York, one of several US cities to experience its warmest January on record, spring conditions have arrived 32 days before the long-term normal, which is its earliest onset of biological spring in 40 years of charting seasonal trends by the National Phenology Network.

Spring activity has, meanwhile, arrived at least 20 days earlier than usual for huge swathes of the US south-east and east, with parts of central Texas, south-east Arkansas, southern Ohio and Maryland, along with New York, all recording their earliest spring conditions on record so far this year.

 

“It’s a little unsettling, it’s certainly something that is out of the bounds of when we’d normally expect spring,” said Teresa Crimmins, director of the National Phenology Network and an environmental scientist at the University of Arizona. “It perhaps isn’t surprising, given the trajectory our planet is on, but it is surprising when you live through it.”

Today’s climate activist ‘criminals’ are tomorrow’s heroes: silencing them in court is immoral | George Monbiot

Winter has barely registered for millions of people in the US north-east, with states across the New England region all experiencing their warmest January in the 155-year national record. New York City, which experienced more lightning strikes than snowfall in a balmy month, notched an average temperature 10F higher than the long-term average. The Great Lakes, meanwhile, have had a record-low amount of ice coverage during their usual February peak.

The procession of warm days has coaxed flowers from plants, with thousands of citizen observers reporting early budding in numerous locations to the National Phenology Network, a coalition of academics, government agencies and volunteers. Volunteers on the ground have noted instances of blooming over the past 15 years, while the longer 40-year record comes from a model of spring-like conditions devised by the network.

This year, blooms have already been emerging from common lilacs in Pennsylvania, eastern redbuds in Virginia, tulip trees and red maples in North Carolina, and daffodils and violets in New York City, observers have told the network. Perhaps the most famous symbol of spring in the US, the cherry blossoms found in the heart of Washington DC, have started to bud, too, and could break a three-decade record for early blossoming, according to the National Park Service.

The Washington monument is seen through cherry blossoms on the National Mall in Washington DC on 21 February. Photograph: Sarah Silbiger/Reuters

The warm winter, and the galloping arrival of spring-like weather, is part of a longer-term trend of milder winters and scrambled seasons due to the heating of the planet caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Crimmins said her network of observers have voiced “surprise, concern and anxiety” over another early spring, which follows a string of similar early onsets over the past decade or so.

“This year the US has clearly been chopped in half and the eastern half is so much further ahead of schedule in terms of spring,” she said. “Almost everyone I speak to about this has this existential anxiety that we are seeing climate change playing out in real time.”

Stronger El Niño events may speed up irreversible melting of Antarctic ice, research finds

While many people may celebrate a winter without the need for heavy coats or wariness over slippery ice and snow, the rapid arrival of spring conditions has a host of negative ramifications, scientists say. Pollen pumped out by prematurely unfurling plants can trigger earlier seasonal allergies and parasites such as ticks, some able to spread afflictions such as Lyme disease, are able to spread and establish themselves at a time when temperatures should be too cold for them to thrive.

More fundamentally, the shifting seasons risk severing a whole series of relationships essential to the natural order. Insects may miss feeding upon early-blooming plants, while migrating birds, which decide to start their seasonal journeys by the length of the day, may find a dearth of food for them when they arrive. The plants, meanwhile, risk being killed off by frosts that can arrive after they’ve blossomed.

 Everything has been thrown out of whack, species that have evolved together for millennia are now off-kilter

This situation poses a threat to the food system, which is reliant upon insect pollination, and gives an edge to certain invasive species of plant that thrive in the warmer conditions, according to Dr Deborah Landau, director of ecological management at the Nature Conservancy.

“I’m seeing the trends I rely upon, the calendar I have trusted to see rare plants in bloom, just completely disappear,” said Landau, who has been charting plant and animal behavior for the past 22 years. “Everything has been thrown out of whack, species that have evolved together for millennia are now off-kilter. There is this cascading effect on everything that is more than just a missed cherry blossom season.”

Landau said that people will start to see the true costs of early springs through higher prices for certain pollinator-dependent foods and the spread of tick-borne diseases, even if the consequences of this are still not apparent to most.

“I’m seeing things green up and bud early and the weather reports just say ‘lucky you, what another lovely warm day,’” she said. “I just groan because I know the pollinators won’t have anything to eat. It’s frustrating.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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© 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

We had zero winter this year and no snow..... Crocuses in full bloom now with Daffodils not far behind. Never seen it like this in my lifetime.

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XCR1250

XCR1250

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7 minutes ago, ViperGTS/Z1 said:

We had zero winter this year and no snow..... Crocuses in full bloom now with Daffodils not far behind. Never seen it like this in my lifetime.

Minus 14 when I got up this morning, 10 above right now, 3-4 feet of snow on the ground up here.

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ViperGTS/Z1

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1 minute ago, XCR1250 said:

Minus 14 when I got up this morning, 10 above right now, 3-4 feet of snow on the ground up here.

Don't worry. In a decade or so you will likely be having our type of winters.:bc:. 

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ViperGTS/Z1

ViperGTS/Z1

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3 minutes ago, XCR1250 said:

Behind my garage.

DSC00152.JPG

Nice.... I wouldn't mind a little of that. Bought a used snowblower for cheap this year and dying to try it out. .....I think that's what jinxed us. Just a dusting of snow at best.

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Steve753

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15 hours ago, joe_zrt said:

The sooner man realizes he doesn't control or have any significant effects on the natural cycles of the earth, the better we'll all be. As soon as they politicized it, all rational reason went out the window. 

Just another way to make money. Scared liberals want everyone else to be scared like they are. 

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01mxz800

01mxz800

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16 hours ago, joe_zrt said:

The sooner man realizes he doesn't control or have any significant effects on the natural cycles of the earth, the better we'll all be. As soon as they politicized it, all rational reason went out the window. 

the climate on this planet has been changing one way or another for 6+ billion years, pure arrogance of man to think he has the ability to change it, man is a mere insect to this planet:news:

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